CULTURE AND CURING IN VIRGINIA. 1119 



HENRY. In this county there are two varieties in general cultivation : Broad Leaf or Big Orinoco, and Narrow- 

 Leaf or Little Orinoco, sometimes called Brittle Stem, aiid by some Flannagan, the favorite with the manufacturers of 

 plug chewing. Though very much like the Little Orinoco of the Middle division, the Flannagau is evidently a distinct 

 variety, produced possibly by hybridizing the Little Orinoco, or changed in habit and character by selection and 

 culture. The leaf is broader and the fiber finer than the Little Orinoco, while it is equally as sweet, silky, and tough 

 as that old favorite. White Stem is not much grown. This is evidently not the White Stem of the dark shipping 

 district, but probably a hybrid Orinoco, called in some places White-stem Orinoco. 



BLUE EIDGE DIVISION. 

 FLOYD. The only variety produced is Yellow Pryor. 



VALLEY AND APPALACHIA DIVISION. 



ROCKBRIDGE. Orinoco, White Stem, Blue Pryor, Bull-face, Cotton Boll (a large, heavy-leafed tobacco of 

 vjgorous growth, a favorite for export), Gray Pryor, and Yellow Pryor are raised. 



BOTETOTJRT. Bull-face, for which the local name Little Frederick is a synonym, Yellow Pryor, and Orinoco. 

 GILES. Yellow Pryor, Brittle Stem, White Stem, and Orinoco are produced in the county. 



CROSS-FERTILIZATION. 



The Johnson-Green variety is a hybrid of Orinoco and White Stem. The White Stem itself is a hybrid; so 

 is the Gold Leaf, a cross of the Yellow Orinoco and the Yellow Pryor. The Gooch, Flannagan, and Mayo are all 

 hybrids of more than ordinary merit, and are said to be superior in many respects to most of the old varieties. The 

 Medley Pryor originated in Halifax county sixty or seventy years ago with Mr. Isaac Medley, a successful and 

 observing planter, and is a cross of the old Blue Pryor on the Orinoco, partaking both of the symmetrical habit 

 of the Pryor and of the fine texture and body of the Orinoco. In the estimation of some of the best planters in 

 Virginia, this hybrid has no equal in the production of a first-class export leaf or dark wrapper. Some attempts have 

 been made here and there to obtain new and better varieties by crossing such as possess desirable characteristics, 

 and generally much care is taken to maintain the purity of the seeds of favorite sorts. 



INFLUENCES OF SOILS UPON THE QUALITY OF THE TOBACCO PRODUCT. 



Soils have a material influence on the quality and color of most varieties of tobacco, gray soils being best suited 

 to the yellow varieties, and dark, rich soils to the shipping. In general, the color of the soil is indicative of the 

 color of the product, its fertility being indicative of the quality of the crop grown thereon. Rich clays of any 

 color will produce a heavy, waxy leaf, if planted to a suitable variety one that has a tendency to grow thick, 

 leathery, and large. Gray, porous soils will develop a thinner but finer leaf, particularly if planted to those 

 varieties that have grown on such soils for a long series of years and have been kept pure. 



Varieties which produce an excellent quality of tobacco on soils to which they are suited fail entirely when 

 planted on lands of a decidedly different character. For instance, the White Stem, which in Buckingham county 

 produces a grade desirable for stemming and English shipping, on new lands in Albemarle county produces a large 

 plant, with long and broad leaf, but so deficient in body, texture, and waxiness as to bring it under the nondescript 

 class. Yellow Pryor and Orinoco, grown upon rich old lands, especially if manured, will yield a strong, dark tobacco, 

 while upon light, new lands the product of the same varieties is yellow, fine-flavored, and sweet. 



If tobacco of the same variety be planted on lands contiguous, of the same formation and character, as nearly 

 of the same topography and fertility as possible, one field freshly cleared from the forest, the other long cleared 

 but well preserved, the product of the first will be brighter in color when cured with artificial heat or by the sun and 

 air, finer in texture and sweeter in flavor, and have less nicotine than that produced on the old land. This applies to 

 the manufacturing grades and types. If both the new and the old land be planted in Medley Pryor, and cultivated, 

 cured, and managed for dark shipping, that produced on the old land will be richer, heavier, darker, and stronger 

 than that from the new laud, and will sell higher in the market. 



The product of new or fresh lands, if planted to the variety best suited thereto and properly cured and managed, 

 commands more money generally; but if these new lauds are red, and otherwise nusuited to the manufacturing 

 types, the product of old rich lots makes the more desirable staple. To get the best returns from both the planter 

 must choose the variety suited to the soil according to the type in demand, and cure and manage accordingly. 



Some varieties grow to perfection on certain localities ; while others, possessing a wider adaptability, succeed 

 well on both rolling and level lands. 



The Orinocos, Gold Leaf, Gooch, Mayo, and other yellow varieties grow to highest excellence only on rolling 

 lands, requiring a dry, warm, quick soil, a porous subsoil, and thorough drainage. 



